Well done, you’ve almost completed your third week of the Challenge!
This weekend is much the same as the previous weekend’s, with Saturday’s challenge being the same as today’s, (so there’s no extra items for you) and Sunday is a rest day, ready for adding some new items to your routine for the final week, on Monday!
Days 20 (Saturday) & 21 (Sunday):
1. Out with gluten, processed sugars, sweeteners, alcohol and fizzy drinks.
2. Meditate for 15 mins a day (I advise a guided meditation if you’re new to this).
3. Drink at least 2.5 litres of water a day.
4. Do 30 seconds of planking.
5. Pick another drawer or cupboard to de-clutter, use the natural vinegar solution (mentioned in day two) as a cleaner rather than any toxic chemicals.
6. Note 25 things you are grateful for in your gratitude pad.
7. Increase the amount of steps or length of time you walk today by 5% from the previous day’s total.
8. Take a daily probiotic.
9. Eat 7 fruit or vegetables a day (preferably raw for optimum nutrition).
10. Make sure you have breakfast within a hour of getting up and don’t skip meals, make sure to eat something (if only something little) every 3-4hrs.
11. Reduce your caffeine intake by 75%, or replace it with green tea.
12. Watch at least one inspirational or motivational video each day.
13. Have at least one smoothie or a juice every day (the choice is yours which one), but make sure it has some veggies in as well as fruit.
14. Where possible try having sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes (they make yummy wedges and jackets).
15. Try introducing fermented foods into your diet. These are extremely high in friendly bacteria and yeast, so they help keep the bad ones at bay and balance the health and effectiveness of the digestive system. I recommend half a kefir or kombucha drink a day from your local health-food shop.
16. Get off the bus a stop early or park your car at the wrong side of the car-park to your destination. This way you won’t really notice the increase in exercise each day.
17. Replace unhealthy transfat cooking oils with coconut oil. Coconut oil is one of the few fats that keeps it’s nutritional content and goodness when heated.
18. Introduce a 15 minute yoga, pilates, tai-chi or Qi Gong routine to three days of your week.
19. Try not to say negative things about yourself, either out loud or in your own head. The way we talk to ourselves has a massive impact on our self image and self belief, so try to be kind and see what a difference it makes.
20. Introduce some super foods into your daily diet. Items like blueberries, oily fish, spinach, pistachio nuts, peppers, quinoa, brown rice, avocados, garlic, goji berries, broccoli, lentils, apples, sweet potatoes, hemp seeds, chia seeds, watercress and oats are all super foods and should be included in your diet for optimum health.
21. If you are still treating yourself to the odd bit of chocolate please replace this with dark, high cocoa concentrated chocolate. Believe it or not some consider dark chocolate a superfood. Cocoa is full of antioxidants, it’s thought to lower blood pressure and contains lots of healthy plant compounds.
22. Consider switching one of your skin or hair care items to a natural alternative.
23. Try having 1 or 2 Epsom salt baths a week. Epsom salts are high in magnesium, which helps draw out toxins as well as aches and pains. Put half a mug of salts into a bath and soak for 20-30 mins.
24. Start your day with fresh lemon, lime or warm ginger water (or a mixture of these). These are very alkalising foods within the body and help to kick start the metabolism if consumed before breakfast when we first wakeup.
25. Listen to least 10 mins of upbeat music a day. Research has shown doing this regularly can lead to a more positive outlook overall.
26. Swap table salt for Himalayan salt. This type of salt (which is actually pink) is very high in natural minerals and is much healthier for the body to consume and use. This can also be added to bath water to help draw out toxins.
27. Consider purchasing a Himalayan salt lamp or candle holders. These items made from Himalayan salt draw impurities, negatives and damp from the air around them.
28. Introduce some detoxifying herbal teas into your daily regime. These are bitter tasting teas like dandelion, nettle, wormwood or milk thistle.
29. Go organic with meat and dairy. A lot of these produce have hormones and antibiotics injected into them and when you consume these items you also absorb these chemicals, which can have a harmful effect on your own health.
30. Consider taking part in the 100happydays challenge. Each day you take a picture of something that makes you happy and share it. This is a great way to keep looking for the positive in each day. http://100happydays.com/
31. Take the adrenal fatigue questionnaire on Dr James Wilson’s adrenal fatigue website. It is believed that most of us suffer from some sort of adrenal fatigue at some point throughout our lives. This has an impact on our overall health, hormones, weight and stress levels. Take the quiz and see how you fair,;if you find you score quite high then look at making some of the changes on his website. This will benefit you long term both physically and mentally. http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/take-the-adrenal-fatigue-quiz
See you on Monday for your final week of the challenge!
Have a good weekend everyone! =0)
